Editorial
As we battle uncertainties on every level, resilience has become even more important to creating a healthy and successful organization. When there are unforeseen events to handle, such as layoffs, and intense moments to navigate, such as organizational changes, it is everyday resilience that gets people, teams and organizations through the daily challenges that would otherwise leave them feeling depleted, unmotivated and over time, burnt out.
Research has demonstrated that resilient employees were 31% more productive during the pandemic and that the employees of resilient leaders are three times more resilient on average, and experience significantly less burnout and turnover.
Resilience is a skill that can be developed and improved. It offers a way to effectively navigate adversity, handle setbacks and manage stress and uncertainty. It is the skill that enables people to continue to see the possibilities, perform at their best and deliver in the face of pressure and strain.
What Is Everyday Resilience and Why Should You Care?
We’ve all been there. Maybe we had an argument with our partner or some other hecticness in the morning and then had to jump onto a presentation. Or we had to focus on creating a document, even though our mind is wandering to a million distractions and worries. Maybe we received an email that created more confusion, concern and chaos. Increased workloads, higher expectations, returning to the office, or other uncertainties can all pull us into, or keep us spinning in, a vortex of overwhelm, stress or despair.
According to Bobbie LaPorte, author of the leadership playbook, “When The Curveballs Keep Coming,” everyday resilience is “the ability to deal with unrelenting uncertainty from a possibilities mindset, not one of resignation or defeat.” Many solutions may bring a temporary break of relief, but understanding that “leaders need to see waves of successive change as opportunities to test assumptions, improve systems and build capacity in everyone, is necessary to future-proof any business,” Laporte said.
And it’s something that can keep building. “It’s like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets,” said Carol Scott, senior director of customer success at a Fortune 50 technology company. As a leader who has resilience as a key element of her own personal leadership style, she states that, “everyday resilience is being flexible, focused and forward looking, no matter the circumstance.”
While having dedicated growth opportunities for employees to build effective strategies for resilience is a part of the battle, moments to build this muscle can occur in everyday situations. As Scott highlights, “thriving leaders and teams expect the unexpected and build resilience into their culture.” This is when you see organizational benefits such as increased engagement, performance and wellbeing.
Related Article: You Think Everything’s Fine. Your Employees Might Not Be so Sure
Building Everyday Resilience
Increasing mental, emotional and physical capacity supports resilience. This fuel can come from a number of inputs that create the energy and space needed to process, overcome and learn from daily challenges.
1: Create Awareness and Acceptance
Understanding and embracing feelings of discomfort reduces internal resistance. “I constantly reassess my strengths and triggers,” Scott said. “When the hard times come, I focus on the critical path and ensure I have clarity on my next steps.”
LaPorte also believes in the importance of acceptance: “it starts with the individual being willing to admit that they don’t have the answers to today’s complex problems.” This can seem scary when many crave control. However, accurately assessing one's scope of influence, talking about situations and normalizing discussions around emotions starts the process of moving forward positively and productively.
Ask yourself, how are you building emotional awareness and acceptance for individuals and teams today?
2: Build Trust
When people ground themselves in trust, it can provide the energy and motivation to get through the day when unexpected challenges occur or even if the tasks to be done are simply mundane. When someone understands the role they play in a meaningful outcome, and has the safety that comes from being able to trust their organization, it can drive performance in even the toughest of times. As LaPorte advised, it is important for leaders to “role model behavior with their teams, to build trust and let them know it is ok to ask for help and make mistakes.”
And when setbacks occur, Scott shared that “it’s key to have an open dialogue one-on-one and in team settings to build trust. It’s best to share openly and hear perspectives, then work as a team to solve problems to move forward. The key is knowing everyone’s strengths and prioritizing those when in a tough situation.”
Ask yourself, how well do your choices, even the smaller daily ones, build trust and demonstrate your organization's values and mission?
3: Focus on Well-Being
Having a proactive approach to self-care and stress management can give people the tools and skills they need in preparation for potential challenges. Waiting to have high levels of depletion or burnout creates a reactive approach, not to mention an organization that won’t have the capacity needed for resilience when the time comes. Purposefully building these skills within the organization allows for readiness.
Behavior change is not something that will just magically happen, it takes planning and enablement to be successful. LaPorte recommended that organizations consider how they will “put the supporting incentives and infrastructure in place to support behavior change.”
Learning Opportunities
Conference
May
9
An Irish Roundtable in the Valley: The Economic Impact of AI on the World of Work Stanford 2024
Exploring the Impact of AI On the World of Work with Irish diaspora leaders and tech business champions from the North of Ireland
Register
Webinar
May
16
Advance Interoperability in Healthcare: How to Navigate Barriers and Improve Clinical Quality Outcomes
Discover how enhancing your interoperability strategy can drive better outcomes for both patients and staff.
Register
Ask yourself, how are you supporting and enabling a culture of self-care?
Related Article: How to Build a Workplace Vitality Culture for Well-Being and Success
4: Handle Failure and Disappointment Productively
Resilient organizations handle failure and disappointment with a growth mindset. This includes processing emotions, learning from the situation, and moving forward with a positive and solution oriented focus.
Scott pointed out that great leaders, “lead by example during times that require resilience,” further stating that “it’s important to not only to celebrate the good times, but be transparent during tough times, asking for help, reminding the organization what the key goals are, having empathy and action.”
She herself tends to not dwell on losses. “I keep my eyes set on the future, envisioning what success looks like for work and culture,” Scott said. “When I have the mindset that anything could change at any time, I’m ready to adapt to most anything.”
When leaders sweep things under the carpet, appear to have no emotions, ignore the reality of what is happening, or proclaim “business-as-usual,” it can leave employees feeling unheard, unseen and unsupported.
Ask yourself, how are your leaders coping with and responding to challenges and failure?
5: Be as Clear as Possible
When people are overwhelmed, the more clarity the better. While leaders cannot always divulge all the details of situations for business reasons, they can be as clear as possible about what they do know, don’t know and how they will make choices moving forward.
Scott mentioned focus as one of her three principles for everyday resilience, or “keeping the main thing, the main thing,” along with flexibility and foresight. Even when circumstances are uncertain, leaders can create clarity in priorities and help employees understand where to immediately focus their energy so that the future doesn’t seem so unknown and nebulous. This provides short-term focus, while still keeping an eye on the bigger picture.
Ask yourself, how are you helping employees direct their energy to the activities that matter?
6: Provide Support
Support is important in the smaller moments as well as larger, more intense moments that can occur. Ensuring employees feel they have the support needed to navigate any situations they are facing, creates a foundation for resilience. Support from leaders, peers and loved ones is critical, as strong connections and networks can provide safety, belonging and assistance during challenging times.
Ask yourself, how are your supporting employees on a daily basis, both proactively and as they need it?
Learn how you can join our contributor community.